HAVE A VIDEO YOU WANT TO FEATURE ON OUR PAGE?

Submit Video

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Not now
OK
Advert
Advert
Advert

Study Finds Console Controllers Carry More Bacteria Than A Toilet Seat

Mike Diver

Published 

Study Finds Console Controllers Carry More Bacteria Than A Toilet Seat

Featured Image Credit: Pixabay, Mark Foster

As a parent of two kids under ten, I'm fairly used to finding my console controllers a little sticky of an evening. It's not that my kids are especially dirty, no more so than any others; but if they've had sweets, or some kind of sticky snack upon getting home from school, you can guarantee there'll be some sort of residue on our home's Xbox and PlayStation pads.

Advert

That's forgivable, I think, for kids - they're eager to get playing and don't always pause to wash their hands. But adults? That's something else. Next-level disgusting. If you're getting your own controllers - controllers only ever used by your hands - grotty and rank, then we need to have a serious word about hygiene. We can only stomach so many videos like the one below, you know.

Loading…

As disgusting as that PlayStation 4 and DualShock 4 are, it seems they're not all that exceptional. New research conducted by Betway has revealed that the average PlayStation console has more than double the amount of bacteria units usually found on a toilet seat. That thing you park your backside on to poop? It's officially cleaner than the PS4 under your TV. And when it comes to controllers, inevitably, things get worse. While the average PS4 has 72.5 colony-forming bacteria units per swab, the average DualShock 4 has 190 - making the PS4's pad officially the dirtiest around.

Advert

In comparison, Xbox One controller triggers were found to have only half the bacteria of your average loo seat - suggesting that Microsoft fans remember to rinse the muck off their hands more often than their Sony-loving peers. That said, the most disgusting console of all sampled was an Xbox, so there are outliers in the ranks.

The Nintendo Switch was found to be the cleanest games console, on average; while PC users might want to look away now, as the average mouse was found to have eight times the bacteria of a loo seat. That's more muck than was found on keyboards - possibly as we've all done the upside-down QWERTY shake a few times, right? Nothing like a fine dusting of miniscule crumbs to really set your desk off (put some paper down, first).

It's worth saying here, though, that toilet seats aren't actually all that dirty, most of the time - as the research shows, chances are that your dining table has more bacteria on it than your bathroom's porcelain throne. Which is... No, no, still gross. Nevertheless, please, gamers: keep those fingers and thumbs clean, and wipe down your (unplugged!) consoles and controllers once in a while, yeah?

Advert

In related news, be thankful that however dirty your console or computer might be, it probably doesn't have ants inside it.

Topics: Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, PC

Mike Diver
More like this
Advert
Advert
Advert

Chosen for YouChosen for You

Steam

Steam's new free Stardew Valley-like is blowing up right now

16 hours ago

Most Read StoriesMost Read